Which Cruise Line Is The VERY BEST By Region? And Why?

Which Cruise Line Is The VERY BEST By Region? And Why?

In every weekly live cruise Q&A 
livestream that I do on YouTube, I am asked by a cruiser what is the best 
cruise line they should use in one of the regions of the world so they can see and get 
the most of it. So, I decided to make this to share in one place what I have found from my 
experiences to be the very best cruise lines to choose in each of the 8 most popular cruising 
regions. I have cruised all several times and, as you will see, many of the lines 
are not the obvious nor the biggest. Welcome aboard, I’m Gary Bembridge. Let’s 
start in the biggest cruise region of all, the Caribbean, which according to CLIA, 
the International Cruise Line Association, gets over 12 million cruise passengers a year. All major cruise lines cruise the Caribbean, so you have an enormous choice as well as 
choice of itineraries: Eastern, Western, Southern, and shorter Bahamas and 
Cruise Line Private Island cruises. There are four different ways 
I think of what is best here. First, if you’re looking 
for incredible value above anything else, the best line of all is usually 
MSC Cruises. They have very inexpensive fares, go to all the key ports that the 
others do, and kids sail for free. But, if you’re looking for a good value sun and 
high-energy resort-style break with your family promising lots of entertainment, many on-board 
attractions, big choice of dining and bars, and great Kids’ Clubs, while there’s several 
cruise lines including Carnival and Norwegian, the best line in my view is Royal Caribbean. 
They even have the region in their name! They have by far, in my view, the best private 
islands, like Perfect Day at CocoCay, and Labadee. If you are though looking for an adult-only 
experience but still with a party vibe, then Virgin Voyages is the way to go. They 
have great food and a busy fun progam. However, if you find Virgin Voyages with 
their less deep dive port itineraries and party vibe less appealing, and want a line 
with few kids, to visit more authentic ports, have the choice of more varied excursions, 
but still be relatively affordable then there are many options, including 
Holland America, Princess and Cunard. My choice is Holland America Line, partly because 
they have some of their newer ships operating these itineraries like the Rotterdam, have good 
music on board, often call into Half Moon Cay, their private island, which is in my view, one of 
the prettiest and more restful private islands, and as they offer cabins from Inside 
to Suites, they cover most budgets too. But, if you have the budget and 
want a small ship experience, more pampering and want to go to smaller 
and more out-of-way islands than the busy ones all the lines I’ve mentioned to 
date go to, lines including Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Silversea, Viking, 
Windstar, Azamara, and Oceania are options. My pick is Windstar, as they 
have the smallest ships, including their sailing ship, and call on 
smaller out of the way places, and have interesting routes often departing 
from within the Caribbean itself. The next biggest cruising 
region is the Mediterranean, which CLIA says gets over 5.5 
million cruise passengers a year. There are three key routes. Western Mediterranean, 
which is the best itinerary for first timers as you can see iconic cities like Barcelona, Rome, 
Florence, Pisa, and Monte Carlo in one 7-day trip. Then there’s Eastern Mediterranean, which 
will often include the Greek Islands, and then Adriatic Itineraries 
sailing between Venice and Athens. Like the Caribbean, all the lines operate those 
itineraries during the Mediterranean season, and so while the same approach and choices 
of lines apply, there are, two big caveats. First, if your budget can stretch to it, go on a small ship line or the smallest ship 
the other lines have in their fleet. Why? Many of the ports within the Mediterranean are 
working container ports, so smaller ships can often either go to more interesting ports that 
cannot take big ships or can dock more centrally. For example, when I went to Marseille on 
Azamara Quest, a ship holding around 700, we were docked in the heart of Marseille but 
when I went on Norwegian Viva, a big ship, we were miles away in a large working port. When I went on Seabourn and Azamara 
we docked right in Monte Carlo, but on Norwegian Viva we had to go to nearby Nice. When I went to the Greek Islands on Azamara 
and later Seabourn, we visited small islands not crowded by land-based tourists 
or hordes of mega ship passengers. So, I would recommend if you possibly can look 
at lines like Azamara, Windstar, Oceania (but their smaller ships) and if your budget can 
go that far, Seabourn, Silversea or Viking. The second caveat is that as there is so 
much history and culture in the region, to get more out of your cruise, I 
also suggest narrow down even more and look at lines that have good enrichment 
programs when cruising the Mediterranean. The best I have found in this region are Cunard, though not a small ship, Viking 
and to lesser degree Oceania. I had always assumed Alaska was the third 
biggest cruise region, but it is not! So, I will get to them but first let me 
cover what is the third biggest region. That is, based on passenger numbers, 
the non-Mediterranean parts of Europe, with over 3 million passengers according to CLIA. There are two key routes I want to talk 
about, UK / Ireland, and the Norwegian fjords. As with the other regions you should consider 
the lines with on-board experience you want, but I do have some specific recommendations. For the Round UK and Ireland trip, for non-UK 
travellers I recommend you consider Princess and Celebrity as they base ships out of 
Southampton and have been for many years. They do some great itineraries and offer a 
range of pricing as they offer inside cabins through to suites. And will offer a familiar 
more US/ International mix and program. But if you do want a more UK-focused passenger 
mix and program, UK lines like Ambassador, P&O Cruises, Saga, Fred Olsen and Cunard do the 
itineraries as well, although less frequently. Ambassador being the best value, and Fred Olsen providing an affordable 
smaller ship classic option. It is not as necessary to go on a small ship, as 
all largely call into the same places but if you do want a deeper dive into Scotland then look 
at Windstar (as I have done), as they do call at smaller places as they can manage tendering 
more easily and do not swamp the smaller ports. If you’re heading into the Norwegian fjords, 
my recommendation is consider moving past the well-known international lines, and focus 
on two local lines, Hurtigruten and Havila. These are locally owned, do deep and intensive 
routes into the fjords and sail from Bergen far up north and back. You’re going to 
get an authentic Norwegian experience, explore the Fjords in the most extensive way. If you don’t want to go with those lines, 
then many of the international lines go there, and my tip is having a shortlist of lines 
you like the on-board experience and pricing, as pretty much every line goes there in the 
season, but then look closely at the itinerary. Often itineraries will be filled with larger 
cities and towns like Bergen, Stavanger, Kristianstad, and to a lesser degree Olden and 
Alesund, but you want to make sure the route has smaller and out of the way places listed. My 
tips are you want as many places as possible that you’ve never heard of and likely end with 
the word “fjord” in them on the itinerary. If you go mostly to the towns and cities 
I mentioned, you’re really need to spend more on excursions to really get deeper 
into the fjords and into the mountains. Unfortunately, that does mean the smaller 
ship lines like Windstar, Azamara, Viking, Fred Olsen, Oceania and Saga tend to do well 
on that, but they may be out of your budget. So, look at the smaller ships 
in the lines you look at and see if the routes are different. For example, 
I went on Cunard Queen Elizabeth not Queen Mary 2 to the Fjords as it is smaller 
and had a more remote places itinerary. Now time to look at the fourth biggest 
region. And that is still not Alaska yet! The fourth-biggest cruising itinerary 
is Asia with according to CLIA, over 2.6 million passengers a year. This is a huge territory, but I want to really zone in on Japan as 
that where I get asked about most often. If you’re looking at cruising Japan, there 
are some great options. The most affordable being Holland America, Princess, and Celebrity. Those three cruise lines base themselves 
in Tokyo through the season, and all run incredible itineraries, though I recommend 
you focus on the circumnavigations of Japan. All are similar and worth considering. I 
do tend to lean towards Holland America or Celebrity of those two 
as slightly smaller ships, and again offer good range of pricing 
from inside cabins through to suites. One other consideration is you will need to 
do excursions to get the most out of Japan, and they are very costly. So, based on 
the cabin grade you usually cruise in, check if going on a line like Viking, Regent Seven Seas or Silversea that includes some or 
many excursions may be similar in price. I for example found going on Regent Seven 
Seas Explorer was almost no premium once I compared inclusions with Holland America and 
had the advantage of a smaller ship experience. Now to Alaska, the fifth most popular 
cruise region based on passenger numbers, with 1,7 million of them 
annually according the CLIA There are two key routes for Alaska cruises. 
The Inside Passage which departs and return to and from Vancouver or Seattle, and call on 
cities like Ketchikan, Skagway, and Juneau. Then there’s the one-way trips 
mostly between Seward or Whittier and Vancouver. As a first timer, the 
Inside Passage is the usual choice. Like in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, most 
lines cruise in Alaska during the relatively short season, and so you could go 
there on the line that best meets you desired on-board experience, with 
even Virgin Voyages now heading there. But for me, when it comes to choosing a cruise 
line for Alaska, there is one key consideration that trumps everything and reduces the choice 
to just 6 lines because I strongly recommend you go on a line that goes into Glacier 
Bay, certainly if it’s your first trip. Glacier Bay is magnificent and has a massive 
restriction as the Park Authorities only allow two cruise ships in per day, and 
quotas on how often a line can go in too. Currently, there’s only six cruise lines 
authorised to operate in Glacier Bay: Princess Cruises, Holland America, Norwegian, Seabourn, Cunard, and Viking. So, my strong 
advice is to focus on one of those lines. I tend to recommend Holland America, as it’s 
the line that’s been cruising Alaska longest, or Princess Cruises which has been there the 
second longest. They know the region very well, but they also in most ports, get the 
best docking locations and priority. Both will have lots of kids and family groups 
on that you won’t find on them in other regions. However, if you don’t want to go to the 
iconic and well-known ports, you can also go on a more expedition basis. And then I would 
recommend Hurtigruten or the small US-based line, UnCruise. These don’t go to the main ports, and 
they’ll go more remote with a focus on wildlife. I am going to give some quick-fire 
recommendations for the next three regions, all of which according to CLIA, attract 
just over one million passengers a year. The first is the USA West Coast. You have 
many choices as this region is covered as part of repositioning cruises as ships go 
to and from Alaska and the Caribbean at the start and end of the seasons. They tend 
to go to the same ports like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, San 
Diego, San Francisco, and Long Beach. However, some cruise lines are basing ships 
there, like Princess, Holland America and Carnival. I would look at those as they offer 
the most choice of itineraries and timings. Next is Australia and New Zealand, and again there is a lot choice as many 
lines pass through on their world voyages, but often with limited itineraries. But 
your favourite line likely goes there. But to get more choice of itineraries and timing, I would focus lines that base there 
for some of the year or year-round. If you’re looking to do a 
circumnavigation of Australia, there’s not many options and the two best 
itineraries are on Holland America and Viking. If you’re looking to do New Zealand, for me, one 
of the strongest lines to look at is Celebrity out of Sydney. They base an Edge-class 
ship there which runs during the season. If you want to go more local, P&O Australia is being absorbed into local Carnival and 
has good value family-focused options. The eighth-biggest region, and one of my 
favourites is the Panama Canal and South America. You can get many Panama Canal options as lines 
move ships to and from the Caribbean and Alaska, and when ships are going on their world voyages. All do this route well but 
there is one overriding factor, even more important than the line, and that 
is make sure you are booking on a Panamax ship. A Panamax ship is a ship that’s 
designed to go through the old canal. Newer mainstream ships like Queen 
Mary 2, Queen Anne, Nieuw Statendam, Norwegian Bliss, Celebrity Edge 
class and so on are too big and are what’s known as Neopanamax size 
and can only use the new Canal. I believe that to truly experience the wonder 
of the Panama Canal you need to go through the old canal, so whilst you may be attracted to 
fancy new ships, many are not Panamax size. So, focus on some of the smaller, older ships in 
a line’s fleet or on lines with smaller ships. For example, I have been through 
on Vista Class ships, Cunard Queen Victoria and Holland America Zuiderdam. But which of these destinations and regions 
should you be going to first? Join me over on this video where I rank the must-see 
bucket list places to cruise to and why two of the popular regions that I’ve spoken 
about here are not on that bucket list.

In every weekly live cruise Q&A livestream that I do on YouTube, I am asked by a cruiser what is the best cruise line they should use in one of the regions of the world so they can see and get the most of it. So, I decided to make this to share in one place what I have found from my experiences to be the very best cruise lines to choose in each of the 8 most popular cruising regions. I have cruised all several times and, as you will see, many of the lines are not the obvious nor the biggest.

For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron:
—————————————————
* Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers
* YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join

Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products:
—————————————————
* T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
* Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354

My social media:
—————————————————
* Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com
* Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge
* Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
* Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge

ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.

#cruisetips #CruisingTips #CruiseTipsAndTricks